Flooding in Tennessee

Sulphur Dell Baseball Field during Flood,Nashville, Tennessee, 1937

RG 82, Department of Conservation Photograph Collection

Crisscrossed by several major rivers and home to numerous lakes and streams, Tennessee is one of the most water-rich states in America. Heavy rains or ice run-off can cause many bodies of water to swell and encroach upon towns and cities. Major floods in 1847, 1902, 1927, 1937, 1948, and 1951, among other years, have caused severe damage to property and lives. Even small floods can take the lives of Tennesseans living near waterways, destroy entire towns, produce thousands or tens of thousands of refugees, and spread disease. Dam and reservoir breaks add to these troubles, for many of Tennessee's rivers have been dammed, and much of the state lies in the flood plains of dammed rivers and lakes. Unlike the slow-rising floods caused by swollen natural rivers, streams, and lakes, dam or reservoir ruptures are sudden and difficult to predict or contain. With so many cities situated near or around Tennessee’s numerous rivers, lakes, and streams, the threat of flooding is an ever-present danger to the citizens of the state.

Nashville Reservoir Rupture, 1912

Nashville Tennessean

Newspaper Microfilm

Nashville Reservoir Rupture, Nashville, Tennessee, November 5, 1912
Just after midnight on the 5th of November, 1912, one of the walls of the Nashville Reservoir, located on a hill above 8th Avenue, ruptured. The walls had been leaking and crumbling for some time, but the sudden 175-foot breach caused nearly 25 million gallons of water to spill into the city. Many Nashvillians were awakened when the water rushed into their bedrooms; it even floated one family out of the house on their beds. The massive crush of water and the heavy granite blocks of the reservoir walls smashed through the city. There was extensive property damage as the deluge of water tore through South Nashville, although, thankfully, no lives were lost. The next morning citizens of South Nashville were left facing a massive recovery effort. Although the reservoir’s rupture caused no deaths, countless Nashvillians suffered total or partial loss of homes and property. Much of the reservoir still stood, however, towering like a Roman ruin over the city. It was photographed extensively, leaving many dramatic images as memorials to one of the most remarkable disasters in Middle Tennessee history.

Nashville Reservoir Rupture, 1912Library Photograph Collection

Tennessee floods

"High Water on the Mississippi"From a Currier & Ives PrintRobert J. Gasper Collection